Briefing from the Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman on: Iran, Iraq, By-Elections, European Commission and David Blunkett.
Iran
Asked the Prime Minister’s reaction to the Defence Secretary’s Written Statement last night in which he had said that the eight British servicemen who had been detained in Iraq had confirmed that they had been forcibly escorted into Iranian waters, the Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman (PMOS) said that he had nothing to add to what Mr Hoon had set out in his statement yesterday. The boats had been on an entirely routine operation. There had been no intention to enter Iranian waters. Our own enquiries were continuing and we were discussing this issue with the parties involved. The British Ambassador in Tehran was also raising this matter with the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs on a daily basis.
Asked if the Prime Minister believed that the British Government had acted prematurely in apologising for the incident, the PMOS said that the important thing had been to ensure the safe return of the eight men involved. That had happened. In the meantime, discussions about the return of the boats were continuing. As Mr Hoon had made clear, we had expressed our disapproval of the blindfolding of the men and the fact they had been shown on television. He had also underlined that we did not expect a re-occurrence of such an incident.
Asked if we had written off the boats, the PMOS said no. We wanted the boats to be returned - not least, as the Defence Secretary had said, because it would help to resolve what had actually happened. Asked if normal relations with Iran had been restored, the PMOS said that we, together with our international partners, were continuing to raise a number of other issues with the Iranian Government, such as the question of nuclear equipment. We would deal with each issue one by one in an attempt to resolve them, and in doing so would have no compunction in speaking our mind if we considered it necessary.
Iraq
Asked if the new Iraqi Government had put in a request for additional troops, the PMOS said not at this stage. As we had made clear yesterday, and indeed many times during the past month or so, the Iraqi Government, through the National Security Council interfacing with US General David Patraeus, was developing a plan for Iraqi-isation. We would await the outcome of those discussions.
Asked for a reaction to the Defence Select Committee’s criticism that British armed forces were overstretched and whether it would therefore be feasible to send additional troops to Iraq, the PMOS said that any decision would obviously take all the relevant factors into account, as you would expect. Asked for a reaction to reports that the Government had changed its mind about sending more troops to Iraq, the PMOS said that as we had been saying for the past month and a half, any decision would be taken in the context of Iraqi-isation. That process could not be completed until the Iraqi Government, working with the Multi National Force, had calculated what its requirements were.
By-Elections
Asked if the Prime Minister supported a proposal to put in place by-election monitors on 15 July to tackle fraud, the PMOS said that he had nothing to add to what the Prime Minister had said about this matter yesterday, other than to say that this was an issue for the Electoral Commission.
European Commission
Questioned as to whether a final decision on Britain’s new European Commissioner had been made, the PMOS said that the position on this issue had not changed since he had been asked the same question yesterday - when he had also said that the position had not changed. Asked if the issue would be debated in Cabinet before an announcement was made, the PMOS said that the Prime Minister would deliberate on the issue and obviously consult with colleagues before coming to a decision. He reminded journalists that we had until the end of July to make an announcement.
David Blunkett
Asked if the Prime Minister thought it was healthy or unhealthy for Cabinet Ministers to ‘covet’ his job, the PMOS said that the Home office had already dealt with this matter. He had nothing further to add.
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